The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-19
TO IMPROVE THE CITY.
DR. FALLIGANTS PROPOSED sYS-
TEN OF HOUSE DRAINAGE.

$4,000 to the City-How 1t Can be
introduced - To Utilize the Franklin
Square Tower
The house drainage question is attracting
considerable attention. The interview with
DR.. l.. A. Falligant which appeared in the
MORNING News several days ago has been
favorably commented upon, and the City
Surveyor has approved the plan which DR..
Falligant suggests. The doctor has given
good deal of time and study to the prin-iples
involved in house drainage and their APP
plicatiou to the means at command in Sa-
vannah. The necessity for an improved
system is generally recognized.
In a conversation touching upon tbs mat
ter yesterday, DR.. Faligant said that he
wanted to impress upon the people of Sa-
vannah a fact of immense importance. 1t
is this: Since confidence has been created ia
the sanitary condition of Memphis by the
construction of her improved system OF
house drainage and the abolition of the
greater part of her misunderstanding sub
cellar privy vaults, her population has
doubled and her business quadrupled.
This stupendous change" said the doc
tor. ''hss been wrought in seven years. Now
no greater obstacle to the rapid growth of
Savannah exists than the impression exist
ing abroad, both North and West, all
through even the upper portion Of Georgia,
that Savannah is not a healthy city am
perfectly aware that our condition does not
Justify such sweeping distrust, but the dis
trust exists, and has been more or less
kept alive by the occasional deaths
of strangers coming into our
midst who were stricken down by the ty
pho-malsrial poisons incident to the present
inadequate system of house drainage These
l. Ill 10 a,,1
our prosperity flags with their weight of
sorrow. Every chance we have of becoming
great city hangs in the balance, waiting
an improved system Of house drainage"
II understand, Doctor, that you claim to
have mapped out system of house drain
age for Savannah not only better than that
proposed by Col. Waring but that you pro-
pose TO place it in operation at far less
costp
SUPERIOR TO THE WARING SYSTEM.
Yes, and very few explanations will,
think, fully satisfy any one Of the truth OF
my claim. House drainage is an abomina-
ton of the worst kind unless the pipes can
be flushed and cleaned. Now there are
three methods of accomplishing this First,
by grade fall, so that by the law of grayita-
ton downward current is created in direct
ratio to the grade fall and volume of water
thrown into the pipe. This is the
cleansing force on which the Memphis sys-
tenn depends, and is known as the automatic
flush tank system, II you will reflect
that portions of the hills of Memphis are
$50 to 165 feet above the river level, you will
, get some idea of the slant or grade fall
which can be given to some of the pipes.
Ny objection 10 it, as applicable to Savan-
nah, is that we have no such grade fall, and
that while the flush tank may discharge
about l12 gallons in forty seconds, the law
Of gravitation operates on the tlush-stream
immediately on its discharge from the tank
into the pipe and causes it 10 fatten out
and lose its driving power in direct
ratio to the diminution of the grade
fall. l have thus illustrated two
of the forces and their interco-operative or
obstructive action. ! do not refer to steam
propulsion of the flush current because of
its danger to the earthen pines. The third
power is that of the standpipe pressure,
which we already have in existence paid
for. at our immediate command, and as far
ahead of the Warning automatic flush tank
power as a steam engine is to an oxcart
Where does this power exist.'
In the staudpipe or water tower in
Franklin square,.
How do you propose to make this power
availablef'
PREJUDICE DONE AWAY WITH.
You know that there is general preiu-
dice against connecting drinking water
ing the sewers-the fear being that by some
possibility sewer gases might get into the
drinking water through the connecting
valves. To avoid any danger of this kind,
| propose to run a separate pipe along West
Broad street from Bay TO Anderson. this
pipe to be connected with the base of the
water tower, and receive its water supply
from the tower. At the head of each pipe
81 West Broad street | propose to put a
valve connecting this water man with
II. so that | can get the pressure
If the standpipe upon my sewer fiush-cur-
rent as well at Anderson street as at Bay
Street. The minimum grade for the sewer
mains is placed by engineers at inches ia
100 feet But we have a fall of - feet from
West Broad street to the East Broad street
sewer at any point between Bay and AndeI-
son streets, and greater fall at some
points so that we can RELY on grade fail of
"a inches TO the hundred feet. or more than
double he minimum This would give us
tair flushing by the natural grade
fall, provided we put in water enough
at time which these flush tanks do not
provide. Now when in addition | apply
nGt only the increased quantity of water,
INIT the driving power received from the
.tandpipe and communicated to the flush
current through he connecting valve at
the head Of the sewer pipe al West Broad
street, YOU viii easily see with what ra-
pidity and cleansing power the stream will
rush through and empty itself at East
Broad street"
How do you calculate that this matter
viii effect such saving of expense in COM
paiison with the plan suggested by Col.
Waring"
A SAVING IN EXPENSE.
why, you see that by availing ourselves
of our stand pipe pressure we do away en-
tirely with the necessity for his automatic
hush-tanks, direct saving of $1,000 to
$4,000, and we get an incomparably supe-
rior method Of flushing. Then by running
our pipes down the lanes, or streets
where there are 10 lanes, from West Broad
TO East Broad street, we relieve ourselves
entirely OF any need of the extensive cross
drains, such as he proposes Tor Abercoln
Lincoln, Barnard, Jefferson, Montgomery
and other streets. and save here probably
$4,000 to $4,000 more. Now, il these
cross drains were necessary, | certainly
would not advocate doing away with
them; but think / have shown
you so fully the advantage of
the straight and continuous pipe from West
Broad to East Broad street, with Its natural
grade fall Of AZ inches TO every hundred
feet. and the immense cleansing power de
rived from the standpipe l20 feet nigh and
holding million or more gallons of water,
that Won would NOT wish fp lOsa any of tbeea